Rowing Posts Top-10 Finishes at the Head of the HoochAlabama put two boats in the top-20 of the Championship 8+ with its "A" boat taking sixth place with a time of 16:40.39

Alabama returns to action on Sunday with four boats in the Open 8+ race.

Nov. 3, 2012

CHATTANOOGA, Tenn. -
The Alabama rowing team posted a pair of top-10 finishes and six in the top 20 on day one of the Head of the Hooch Regatta on the Tennessee River in Chattanooga, Tenn.

Alabama put two boats in the top-20 of the Championship 8+ with its "A" boat taking sixth place with a time of 16:40.39, just over a second behind fifth-place Tennessee. The Tide's "B" boat took 18th place with a time of 17:24.4.

"Sixth place is our highest finish here at the Head of the Hooch in the Saturday races, and we're certainly pleased with that," UA head coach Larry Davis said. "We could have used a little more polish in our 4s and novice boats. While we didn't row badly, but we didn't bring our `A' race and I think that we showed some of our youth in that regard."

The Crimson Tide's novices also put two boats in the top-20 of the College and Club Novice 8+ race. Alabama's "A" boat posted a 13th place finish with a 19:05.7, which included a 30-second penalty for failure to yield. Without the penalty, the Tide would have finished sixth overall. Alabama's novice "B" boat was 18th with a time of 19:41.9.

In the Championship 4+ race, Alabama's "A" boat posted a time 19:08.6 to take 19th place while the "B" boat was 22nd after crossing the line at 19:30.8. In the Championship 2x race, Alabama finished seventh with a time of 20:24.5.

"Overall, we rowed well, we just didn't row up to our capabilities, and as we've talked about all fall, if we're going to go against the kind of competition that have been, we have to be at our best," Davis said. "We're looking to polish some things up for tomorrow and see where that takes us."

Alabama returns to action on Sunday with four boats in the Open 8+ race.